Poetry for the Beat Generation

Originally recorded in one take in 1959, this impromptu collaboration by Beat poet Jack Kerouac and musician and comedian Steve Allen was inspired by a nightclub performance at the Village Vanguard, where Allen was in the audience to hear Kerouac reading, and was asked to accompany the poet on piano for his second show. Here are 14 poems by Kerouac—"October in the Railroad Earth," "Deadbelly," "Bowery Blues," "I Had A Slouch Hat Too One Time," "The Moon Her Majesty," "I'd Rather Be Thin Than Famous," and eight others—over the sensitive accompaniment of Allen. Long out of print, it was released on audio CD in 1990 as part of Rhino Records' Jack Kerouac Collection, and is finally available here as a single disc.